


A little festive cheer.

by TheMysteriousGeek2345



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Christmas Shopping, F/M, Mike cares about the ghosts, The word sex is used twice but nothing saucy happens, and they care about him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMysteriousGeek2345/pseuds/TheMysteriousGeek2345
Summary: “They haven’t mentioned anything, but I’m sure that there are things that they’d like. Why?” Alison replied thoughtfully, as she looked at Mike fondly. “Unless... are you thinking about getting the ghosts anything for Christmas?”“Well... yeah. You just get along well with them and, even though I can’t see them, I thought that I should get them somethin’ as they’re your friends.” Mike replied.Mike decided to buy the ghosts Christmas presents this year. Unbeknownst to him though, Alison has a scheme of her own.
Relationships: Alison/Mike (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	A little festive cheer.

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of the Ghiscord Secret Santa 2020 and I had the pleasure of writing this for Kellogg. I haven’t written Mike before, but this was really fun to write! :)
> 
> Also Happy Christmas everyone! :)

“So... do you know if the ghosts want anything for Christmas?” Mike asked quietly, as Alison parked the car in the car park nearest to their local shopping centre. It was getting close to December and the two of them were finally starting to prepare for Christmas. Which included buying presents for everyone they cared about.

“They haven’t mentioned anything, but I’m sure that there are things that they’d like. Why?” Alison replied thoughtfully, as she looked at Mike fondly. “Unless... are you thinking about getting the ghosts anything for Christmas?”

“Well... yeah. You just get along well with them and, even though I can’t see them, I thought that I should get them somethin’ as they’re your friends.” Mike replied.

Alison smiled at that, before she fumbled through her handbag and pulled out her phone. Once she had unlocked her phone, she passed it to Mike so he could read a list that she had saved on her phone. Eventually, he asked, “What... is this?”

“It’s something that I made when I was taking stuff out of the library. Basically, it shows what all the ghosts are interested in, along with their likes and dislikes.” Alison said quickly, “If you want any ideas, this might be a good place to start.”

Mike nodded, reading through the list again, trying to get some ideas of what to get the ghosts for Christmas. He said quietly, “Thank you Alison. Shall we go?”

“Yeah.” Alison replied, before the two of them got out of the car and made their way towards the shopping centre.

* * *

**KITTY**

Kitty was the easiest ghost to buy for.

Alison had mentioned that Kitty had enjoyed reading steamy Romance novels, so Mike found himself walking through Waterstones trying to find one that she hadn’t read yet. He found a few promising ones, such as ‘Love amongst the Flowerbeds’, ‘A weekend at the Lighthouse’, and ‘With love, Lucy’.

Admittedly, Mike didn’t know much about romance novels, so he wasn’t sure which ones Kitty would like best. To make things harder, Alison had gone off to ‘sort out his Christmas present’ so she wasn’t here to offer him advice. He was about to text Alison and ask further questions when he saw someone approach him out of the corner of his eye.

Mike turned around and saw a young man with dark brown hair looking at him. Mike could also tell that he worked in Waterstones based on his uniform. The man said softly, “Excuse me sir. How can I help you today?”

“My wife has a friend who likes reading Romance novels, but I’m not sure which one to get her for Christmas. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Of course I can help!” The sales assistance said eagerly, “What is your wife’s friend like and what do they enjoy reading?”

“Well...” Mike paused for a second, trying to work out how to describe Kitty, “She’s really sweet, and super enthusiastic. Slightly sheltered, but her heart is in the right place. I know she recently read Lady Chatterly’s Lover, but apart from that...”

“Oh I know one your wife’s friend mike like!” The sales assistant interrupted eagerly, “There’s one that came in last week actually and _I haven’t stopped reading it_. It’s called ‘The Last Dance’ and it’s a Gothic Fantasy Romance Novel. It’s _amazing_ and I would strongly recommend getting her that one.”

The man quickly pointed the book out to Mike, and Mike quickly read the blurb. Whilst he didn’t know Kitty that well, the book sounded exciting and one he thought Kitty would enjoy reading. Mike looked back at the sales assistant (Tom, according to the name tag) and said quickly, “Yeah, I think she’d like this one. I’ll get that and ‘With Love, Lucy.’”

“Excellent!” Tom said cheerfully, “Now, if you just follow me to the check out, I’ll get it all wrapped up and packed away for you!”

“That would be good. Thank you.” Mike said, as he followed Tom to the till in order to buy the books. Tom quickly scanned both of them, and wrapped them up in Christmas wrapping paper.

“That would be £13.98 in total.” Tom said with a smile. Mike quickly pair by contactless. Tom continued, “Thank you sir, and I hope that you have a _wonderful_ day!”

“You too.” Mike replied, before he left the shop with his most recent purchases in order to meet up with Alison.

* * *

**THE CAPTAIN**

The Captain, on the other hand, was a little difficult to buy for.

Mike knew that the Captain was obsessed with World War 2. I mean, he called himself the Captain, it was kinda obvious that he _liked_ war. Apart from that though, he didn’t seem to have any other interests, which helped narrow down things a little.

The problem was that he didn’t know what to get him. The ghosts couldn’t touch anything (except Julian apparently), so it couldn’t be something that needed to be touched or held. Maybe a DVD about the War could work...?

Mike met back up with Alison, and Mike was immediately curious. She had gone to sort out his Christmas present, and yet she wasn’t carrying any bags. Unless.... However, before he had an opportunity to try and get any hints from her, Alison said quietly, “I had an idea of what to get the Captain for Christmas but... it’s expensive. Do you want to go joint on it?”

“Yeah, sure. I haven’t had any ideas for him yet.” Mike said sheepishly.

“Cool!” Alison smiled, “Let me show you!” Mike found himself being led by Alison down a couple of side streets, away from the shopping centre. Mike looked around, curious as to where Alison was taking him before she finally muttered, “We’re here.”

The shop Alison had led him too was an old antique shop. It wasn’t the kind of shop that Mike would go into normally, but it was one that made sense when it came to buying a ghost a Christmas present. Especially one as obsessed with the past as the Captain. Alison smiled, entering the shop. Mike followed shortly afterwards, as he could hear her discussing things with the shopkeeper.

“Oh, yes dearie. I remember your request well.” The shopkeeper, an older woman with greying hair, said warmly, “Let me bring it out for you.”

The woman went out to the back of the shop, before returning a few minutes later holding a small cardboard box. “Aaaah, here it is. It no longer works sadly, but this is the authentic 1940s Service Revolver I was talking about. It was donated by a friend of mine, and it used to be her father’s. Unfortunately, he passed away a few months ago and she no longer wanted it. I can sell it to you for... £40?”

“I’ll take it.” Alison said quickly, pulling out two £20 notes from her purse, before she placed it on the counter. The woman smiled as she handed Alison the cardboard box. Alison continued, “Thank you Elizabeth. I know my friend will really like it.”

“No... thank you.” Elizabeth smiled, “My friend would be glad to know that her father’s gun has a new home at last... take good care of it, ok?”

“We will do.” Alison said quietly. Elizabeth nodded with a smile, before waving at the couple as they left the shop. As they left, Alison said quietly to Mike, “Yeah, I know the Captain won’t be able to hold it, but he said that he had always wanted one during the war. Better late than never.”

“Yeah, better late than never.” Mike nodded, before he said cheerfully, “So, where to next?”

* * *

**PAT**

Mike was hiding in the wardrobe.

No... he wasn’t scared this time. Wait, when _had_ he been so scared of something that he had hidden in the wardrobe? It had never happened. Mike was totally brave, right?

Anyways, the _actual_ reason Mike was hiding in the wardrobe was because he didn’t want the ghosts to realise that he was doing Christmas shopping on Amazon. Alison had offered to distract the ghosts by starting to talk about decorating the house for Christmas. However, he didn’t know where the ghosts were currently... perhaps they had gotten bored and wondered off.

If that was the case then it was unlikely that they’d check the wardrobe. Right?

Mike was getting distracted. Back to Amazon. He’d been keeping several tabs on Amazon open as Christmas Day drew ever closer, just so that some ideas of what he could get people. Or Ghosts. Or Ghosts who were also people.

Mike shook his head. Why did he keep on getting... where was he... Ah! Present ideas! He was trying to find a couple of things for the Ghosts on Amazon, using the list that Alison had given him and he had found a couple of things for Pat, one of the friendlier ghosts that haunted this house.

The first was a copy of a Scouting book that Pat’s organisation would have used when he was alive. It looked like it was in good condition and it was less than £10.

Mike smiled as he quickly bought the book and requested that it would be gift wrapped. However, he also set the delivery location as the nearest Amazon locker instead of the house so that it was easier to hide.

Once he bought it, he quickly closed the tab and opened the tab with Pat’s other gift on it. The other gift was a Blu Ray copy of Top Gun. Alison mentioned that Pat liked the movie, despite the fact that it was released... after he died? How did he...? He was getting distracted again! Mike knew that they didn’t own the movie, and it was only £8 so it was another easy purchase. Again, Mike requested that it would be gift wrapped and for it to be delivered to the locker instead of the House.

Having made the purchases, Mike got out of the wardrobe and walked towards the living room, hoping to catch up with Alison and the ghosts there. However, unbeknownst to Mike, Alison had another reason to distract him.

* * *

**FANNY**

“Excuse me. How can I help you today?” A young shopkeeper said politely, as Mike entered the small second hand book shop. Alison was busy organising the house for Christmas, and she needed him to run a few errands in town today. Mike had done all these errands, which left him with some time to go Christmas shopping.

He’d already bought gifts for all of his relatives, which just left the Ghosts. Well, all of the ghosts bar Kitty, Pat and the Captain. Mike replied quietly, “I’m just looking.”

“Ok, let me know if you need anything.” The shopkeeper smiled, as they sat down behind the counter and continued reading their copy of Dracula. Mike looked away from them, instead making his way through the various aisles to see if there was anything that any of the ghosts would like.

He stopped as he found a small collection of cooking books. He had heard various stories about Fanny from Alison, and she always seemed... overbearing, and a little too strict sometimes. But Alison said that she was also fairly motherly and could be quite kind sometimes? Mike couldn’t tell for sure. After all... he couldn’t exactly see or talk to her.

What Mike did know, however, was that she enjoyed anything to do with cooking. She had gotten _obsessed_ with the Great British Bake Off and had been encouraging Alison to cook more recently. Mike didn’t mind as, after the first few disastrous attempts, home cooked food tasted so much nicer than the ready meals and takeaways they were used to.

Deciding that she’d appreciate the gift, Mike quickly picked up a couple of the cooking books and brought them to the counter. The shopkeeper quickly scanned the barcodes, before they warmly said, “That would be £8.”

“Here you go.” Mike said quietly, handing over a £10 note. The shopkeeper quickly took the note, and handed over the books and the change.

“Thank you. I hope that you have a good day!” They said with a smile.

“You too.” Mike said awkwardly, before he left the shop and continued walking through town. Maybe, he could get another present or two whilst he was there.

* * *

**THOMAS**

Mike had no idea what to get Thomas, except that he knew that getting anything Byron related would be a bad idea. Mike had no idea _why_ Thomas hated Byron with a burning passion, but he really wanted to know.

However, what Mike really want to know was what would Thomas like. Mike considered getting him some poetry books, but was that a smart idea? Like, Mike didn’t know any poets. Do poets like reading other poets’ poetry, or would they get offended if they were given that as apresent? It was... probably best not to risk it.

And, Thomas was _dead,_ so he couldn’t write his own poetry down. Thomas couldn’t even hold a pen, so that was another option crossed off the list.

Mike eventually found himself wandering into a HMV, lost for ideas. Alison had mentioned that Thomas also liked listening to music, so maybe there was something that he’d like? Mike didn’t know, but it didn’t hurt to look.

He quickly texted Alison to ask where what music Thomas liked, as he began looking through the CD aisles to see if anything sounded interesting. She texted back a few minutes later, with a list of bands he already liked.

The problem was that Thomas had an... extremely wide taste in music, which made things both easier and harder. It was easier, because that meant that Mike could buy any random album and Thomas would probably like it. However, that didn’t help narrow down the options.

Mike paused, as he saw an album by an artist called Hozier on sale. He didn’t listen to Hozier’s music much, but he knew that it was quite poetical sometimes. Maybe Thomas would like that? Yeah, seemed like a safe bet.

Mike quickly picked up both of Hozier’s albums, and quickly bought them at the checkout. A couple of minutes later, he headed back towards the car, with his purchase safely tucked away. Mike smiled to himself. He’d gotten Fanny and Thomas’s gifts sorted, and he had picked up Pat’s gift. Today was a productive day.

Yeah, he still had a couple of gifts left to buy, but he still had a couple of weeks to go. He had plenty of time.

* * *

**ROBIN**

Mike didn’t know what to get Robin for Christmas.

From what he gathered, Robin had been haunting Button House for thousands of years. Or the lands that Button House was built on. The point was that Robin had been here for a _long_ time. Mike couldn’t imagine being stuck here that long without succumbing to madness or boredom. Or both.

He would almost be impressed... if Robin didn’t consistently try and make Alison jump every few days. Maybe that was way of dealing with the boredom, he shouldn’t judge.

The other thing that Mike knew was that Robin loved the Moon and anything to do with space. So, anything to do with either of those things would make him very happy.

Mike found himself back on Amazon,flicking through various moon related things to see what Robin would like the most. He quickly ruled out any encyclopaedia as he didn’t know if Robin had the attention span to read a long and dense textbook. The Caveman regularly got so bored in the house that he started playing with the lights...

Wait.

Mike went back to the home page, and quickly typed in the phrase ‘moon lamp’. It was at this point he could hear the door open, and Alison walked into the room, clutching a mug of what Mike guessed was Hot Chocolate. She smiled as she saw Mike and asked, “What you doing?”

“Are there... any ghosts in the room?” Mike mouthed. Alison shook her head. Mike continued, actually talking this time, “Does Robin’s bedroom have any power sockets?”

“I believe it does.” Alison replied, sounding a little unsure, “Why? Have you got a present idea for Robin?” Mike quickly gave Alison his phone, and watched as she looked at the moon lamps on the screen. After a few seconds, Alison nodded in approval.

“Cool! I’ll got and get it then.” Mike said, as Alison handed his phone back to him. Mike quickly purchased one of the lamps and added, “Thank you Ali. For your input, I mean.”

“You’re welcome.” Alison said quietly, as she sat down next to Mike.Mike’s felt himself relax as she snuggled up next to him. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

**JULIAN**

Even though Mike knew _exactly_ what Julian would like, Mike was still stumped on what to get the disgraced politician for Christmas. Half of the items on Alison’s list were super expensive and the other half were some sort of weird sex thing that Mike was too embarrassed to buy. Most of them were both!

Mike sighed, as he sipped on his cup of coffee in the local Costas. He was waiting for Alison whilst she was busy ‘getting something for the house.’ Apparently. He couldn’t work out what she wanted to get as the house was pretty much decorated at this point. And Alison hadn’t mentioned that something was broken or needed replacing or...

“You seem troubled, young man.” Mike looked up as an older man walked towards him. The man added calmly, “Ah, must be the Christmas shopping. My husband always gets like this when he’s stuck trying to buy people gifts.”

“Yeah...” Mike trailed off, as he took another sip of his coffee, “I just have a couple of people left to get presents for but... they’re difficult to buy for.”

“I understand, it’s always the last few that are the hardest.” The man said, “That’s why I try and always stick to the rule of getting something the other person will find useful myself. Better to get them something they need rather than something they don’t want.”

Mike fell quiet for a second as he mulled over what the other man had said. Julian was _dead,_ so what would he find useful? Getting him a smartphone was out of a question. The man continued, “Does the person you’re looking to buy a gift for have any hobbies?”

“He... he likes Politics.” Mike said after a few seconds of silence. ‘ _And anything to do with sex_ ’ Mike thought to himself, but he didn’t dare say that out loud.

“Have you thought about getting your friend a magazine subscription?” The man asked quietly. Mike shook his head. The man continued with a smile, “I’d strongly recommend it. Not the most expensive gift, but the magazines can be reread and your friend may find the content interesting.”

Mike thought about it, before he nodded, “Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The man smiled, before he looked at his watch, “Oh, look at the time! I must go, but I hope that you have a wonderful day!”

“You too.” Mike said, as the man walked away. Once he had gone, Mike quickly pulled out his phone. Right... which political magazine would Julian enjoy reading the most...?

* * *

**HUMPHREY**

Mike found himself using that man’s advice a few days later.

He had spent a few days looking through the various political magazines with Alison’s assistance, before he found one that Julian would approve of. He took out the subscription in his own name of course. It would be weird to take out the subscription using the name of a dead politician.

However, as he was about to close the website he saw that there was a discounted subscription to the History Magazine. Mike quickly asked, “Ali.... didn’t you say that the headless one liked history? Or... the body-less one.... I dunno how to describe him.”

“Yeah, Humphrey likes history. Why?” Alison interrupted quietly, as she looked over Mike’s shoulder at his laptop screen, “Oh, are you looking at the History magazine? Yeah, I think that he’d like that one.”

Mike looked at the link one more time, pausing as he mulled it over. It felt... slightly weird buying a gift for a severed head, especially when he couldn’t even touch his gift. Still... he was one of the ghosts who haunted the house and Alison seemed to get along with him. Though Mike supposed that you could say that about of the ghosts who lived here.

He clicked into the link, and quickly followed the instructions to sign up for the subscription. Again, Mike took out the subscription under his own name. After all, the idea of getting a subscription for a Politics name under Julian’s name was weird enough. Getting a subscription under Humphrey’s name would be weirder.

Did Humphrey even have a surname or was Mike meant to just put the word ‘Headless’ in that box? But that would be.... well...

“You got it?” Alison asked, shaking Mike out of his thoughts. Mike nodded. Alison smiled, “That’s good. Anyways, I need to pop out for a bit, ok? Just need to get one last Christmas present. I’ll see you later.”

“Alright.” Mike said quietly, before Alison quickly kissed him on the cheek and left. He was in the exact same boat as well. He just had one last Christmas present left to get, and it was for... oh...

_Mary_

* * *

**MARY**

Mike did need to clarify. He didn’t hate Mary. How could he hate someone who he couldn’t see? It was just that... she had the vaguest interests out of all of the ghosts, to the extent that the only advice Alison could give was to not buy anything to do with fires. Or witchcraft.

Guess candles were off the list.

In all seriousness though, from what Alison had described Mary seemed to be lost in her own little world and seemed to enjoy a lot of the things that Alison and Mike had shown the ghosts. She enjoyed cooking shows, she enjoyed a lot of the sitcoms and films that they watched. Heck, she even enjoyed the occasional gardening show that Mike accidentally flicked to before...

Wait, she liked gardening.

A few days later, Mike marched into his local garden centre, clutching a list of flowers and vegetables that Mary enjoyed growing back when she was alive. She couldn’t grow the plants herself, but she liked helping Alison sort out the _various and many_ gardens Button House had. She could easily show Alison how to grow them.

Once he was there he made his way towards the sections where they sold the seeds were being sold, before he quickly grabbed a large selection of seeds and stuffed them into a shopping basket. Once Mike was happy with his choices, he made his way towards the checkout.

“Oooh, that’s a lot of seeds.” The checkout lady, a tall woman in her late 20s said eagerly, “You got a big garden?”

“Yeah.” Mike replied, “My wife... recently inherited Button House and...”

“Oh! I live nearby!” The woman said enthusiastically, “I wondered who was renovating the place! And you’re planning to do stuff with the garden, yes?”

“We are yes.” Mike replied, “We just haven’t...”

“Oooh, how wonderful! I hope that they look absolutely stunning!” The women interrupted with a grin, “I would _love_ to chat with you some more about the House, but I’m aware that you’re probably busy. All of that comes to £15, ok?” Mike nodded, before he paid for the seeds. The checkout lady continued cheerfully, “Thank you sir! I hope that you have a wonderful day!”

“Yeah, you as well.” Mike replied, putting the seeds into his rucksack before he made his way out of the garden centre. He was done with his Christmas shopping. All he had to do now was wrap everything up and then... Bring on Christmas!

* * *

**CHRISTMAS DAY**

“Hey, my love. It’s Christmas morning.” Mike blinked, as he slowly started waking up. He smiled at the sight of Alison looking at him softly. Mike mumbled something, sitting up in bed as Alison continued, “Shall we go open our Christmas presents?”

“That sounds good. Yeah.” Mike replied, still sounding slightly sleepy, getting out of bed and following Alison to the living room. Once there, Mike sat down on the couch. He was about to speak again when Alison suddenly shushed him. A few seconds passed. “Is... it a Ghost thing?”

“Make sure the other ghosts are here, Captain. We’re going to be opening presents soon.” Alison said quietly, ignoring Mike’s question. The room fell quiet, as the Captain presumably left to gather the rest of the ghosts. A few minutes later, Alison smiled and walked towards the tree. Ah, the other ghosts must be here now. Alison began, “Let’s start with the gifts Mike and I got for you.”

Mike stood up, pulling the gifts that they got the ghosts out from under tree before heading towards the living room table. Obviously, the ghosts couldn’t unwrap their own gifts, so Alison and Mike took it in turns to unwrap the presents.

Alison then had to describe each ghost’s reactions to Mike, saying things like “Ooooh, Fanny really likes your present!”, or “No, Julian, we are _not_ getting you a subscription to an ‘adult’ magazine.”

Eventually all of the ghosts’ presents had been unwrapped, and from the sound of it, all of the ghosts sounded overjoyed by being included in the festivities.

Mike was about to ask what they were going to unwrap next, when Alison suddenly walked back towards the tree and pulled out another present. He looked at Alison with a bewildered expression on his face, before asking, “What... is this?”

“Well... the ghosts wanted to get _you_ a Christmas present this year.” Alison said quietly, placing the gift in Mike’s hands. “They’re sad that you can’t see them, but they like you and wanted to treat you to something nice.”

Mike stared at his gift in shock. The ghosts actually... he felt... he quickly mumbled a “Thank you” to the ghosts, before he slowly unwrapped the present and stared at a box of headphones and some train tickets.

“The ghosts thought that you’d appreciate the headphones, so that you can put music on if my dealing with the ghosts stresses you out too much.” Alison said quietly, “And the train tickets are so that we can take a day off from renovating the house and go someplace nice...”

“I... this is amazing. Thank you.” Mike smiled warmly, as he got the headphones out of the box, “I’m looking forward to trying these out. Anyways... shall we continue opening presents?”

Alison nodded.

As they both headed back to the tree, Mike smiled as he saw Alison pick up the gift that he got her. This was shaping up to be one of the best Christmases he ever had, and he hoped that the ghosts were enjoying themselves as well.

**FIN**


End file.
